March 16, 2010

I think I got into Mates of State, husband-and-wife indie pop team Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, somewhere during my freshman year of college. I went to see them live soon after and my friends and I were all just amazed at how IN LOVE they seemed. I think we joked about them having sex on stage. Sorry. We were young and crass.

It’s weird—when I first saw them, I felt like I would never be in a relationship that was like that (or, that was like their relationship seemed—who knows how it really IS), so whole and good and together. Now that I finally am, their music conveys a new kind of energy to me and I hear the love bliss in the sound even more than before.

The Mates are kind of an interesting band because I really do think that their “togetherness” is integral to their sound, just as Quasi’s apartness as a couple influences their sound. While Quasi’s members go eagerly into their own strong directions and make amazing music from there, MoS have a strangely pure harmony that is kind of unique to them, as if the music is a representation of their fused aesthetics.

The couple is still together and they’re still making music (and PETA ads) too. They also have a few kids now. Cute.

If you can’t take the all the cuteness (once they even served as the house band to everyone’s favorite borderline preciousradio show), you might be tempted to skip out on the Mates. But I’m telling you, don’t! Just give it a try and let yourself consider for a moment, however brief, that true love might exist. I promise it will be catchy poppy fun…and you can always listen to Moz next.

"Proofs" is the first song on My Solo Project and I love how it starts.

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What's the Deal?

One Sweet Song is a music blog written by Gina Pensiero, of band Palmyra.

High quality and fully eclectic, this music-blog-as-radio-station doesn't get down with payola and was started as a means to dish up One Sweet Song per business day. Life got a little crazy, which means posts got a little more sporadic, but we're sticking with the magical one song/post formula.

No fuss. No bullshit. Just one sweet song.

You'll also get context--cultural and personal--around why the song is so rad. Editorials are kept short and sweet (no pun intended).

The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my employer. Wahn Wahn.

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All files posted on OSS are intended only for sampling. The only way artists get paid and indie labels survive is if you go buy their music. Please do that. If your song/the song of someone you represent is up and you don't want it to be, please let me know and I will remove it immediately.

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